What Does It Mean to Fulfill the Law in Romans 8:3-4

Twelve Theses

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through
the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful
flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so
that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do
not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For
those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things
of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things
of the Spirit.

The question today is very practical and tremendously important.
What does Paul mean in verse 4 when he says that the aim of
Christ's death is "that the requirement of the Law might be
fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit"?

I mentioned last week that some take this to mean that Christ
fulfilled the law for us when he obeyed it perfectly and died as
the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. In him we are perfect with his
perfection and in him we are pardoned by his blood. Now I believe
that is true. And it is foundational for everything. But I don't
think that is the point of verse 4. And the reason I don't is that
it won't fit the wording of the text. Verse 4 says the aim is "that
the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us." It
does not say that the law is to be fulfilled for us. That
is true, I would say, from Romans 5:19. But that's not the point
here. And then he focuses specifically on our walking,
that is, our living, as the way the fulfillment will happen: ". . .
that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk . . . according to the Spirit."

So my question is: How do we fulfill the requirement of the law?
And specifically how can any of my "walking" by the Spirit –
which is always imperfect in this life – be said to fulfill
God's law which is holy and just and good. Since when does God's
holy law and divine standard say, "Pretty good will do"?

What I would like to do is answer this question with a
far-reaching summary of the relationship of the Christian to the
Law in 12 Theses so that we can clarify our
overall position and then move ahead into Romans 8 without having
to rebuild these things over and over.

Thesis 1

Fulfilling the requirement of the law in Romans 8:4 refers
to a life of real love for people.

Romans 13:8-10

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for
he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the
law. For this, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU
SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if
there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying,
"YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." Love does
no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the
law.

Galatians 5:13-18

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your
freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve
one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one
word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS
YOURSELF." . . . But I say, walk by the Spirit, and
you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. . . .
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the
Law. (Compare Romans 7:4, 6.)

Matthew 7:12

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want
them to treat you, for this is the Law and the
Prophets.

Matthew 22:37-40

And He said to him, "YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL
YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. This is
the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, YOU
SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. On these two
commandments depend the whole Law and the
Prophets."

Thesis 2

Our fulfilling the law in loving others is not the
ground of our justification. The ground of justification is the
obedience and blood-shedding of Christ alone, appropriated through
faith alone before any other acts are performed. Our fulfilling the
law is the fruit and evidence of being justified by faith.

Romans 3:24-25

Being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption
which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as
a propitiation in His blood through
faith. This was to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the
sins previously committed;

Romans 5:19

For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made
sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the
many will be made righteous.

Romans 8:3

For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh,
God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as
an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the
flesh.

2 Corinthians 5:21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that
we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Romans 3:20-22

By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight;
for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin. But now apart from
the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being
witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of
God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for
there is no distinction.

Romans 3:28

We maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of
the Law.

Romans 4:4-5

Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor,
but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes
in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as
righteousness.

Thesis 3

This fulfilling of the law in loving others is rendered not
in our own strength but by the presence and power of the Holy
Spirit.

Romans 8:4:

. . . so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in
us, who do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control; against such things there is no
law.

Galatians 5:13-16

For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not
turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but
through love serve one another. For the
whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, "YOU SHALL
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. . ." But I say, walk by
the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of
the flesh.

Thesis 4

This fulfilling of the law in loving others through the
Spirit is rendered by faith, that is, by being satisfied with all
that God is for us in Christ – the perseverance of the same
faith that justifies.

Galatians 3:5

So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works
miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or
by hearing with faith?

Galatians 5:6

For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision
means anything, but faith working through
love.

1 Timothy 1:5

But the goal of our instruction is
love from a pure heart and a good
conscience and a sincere faith.

Thesis 5

This fulfilling of the law in loving others through the
Spirit by faith is not a perfect love in this life.

Romans 7:15

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want,
but I do the very thing I hate.

Romans 7:19

For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is
what I keep on doing.

Romans 7:23-25

I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war
against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of
sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me
free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus
Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am
serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of
sin.

Philippians 3:12

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become
perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which
also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Thesis 6

But my fulfilling of the law in loving others through the
Spirit by faith will become perfect when I die or when Christ
comes, and I will live in perfection of love forever.

Romans 8:30

These whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He
called, He also justified; and these whom He justified,
He also glorified.

Philippians 1:6

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good
work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ
Jesus.

Hebrews 12:22-23

But you have come to Mount Zion . . . and to God, the judge of
all, and to the spirits of the righteous made
perfect.

Thesis 7

Even though I will one day be perfected in love, the
totality of my existence will never be
a perfect one because it
will always include the first chapter of my fallenness. I will
always be a forgiven sinner and will always be in need of an
imputed, alien righteousness and a sin-bearing Substitute for my
right standing before God. In this way Christ will be glorified
forever in my salvation. I will forever lean on his righteousness
and his sacrifice.

Thesis 8

Even though imperfect, this Spirit-dependent,
Christ-exalting love (which is essentially self-sacrificing
gladness in the temporal and eternal good of others, 2 Corinthians
8:1-2, 8) is the true and real direction of life the law required.
In this life we have new direction, not full perfection. This
direction is what the law demands on the way to
perfection.

See the texts under # 1.

Thesis 9

This fulfilling of the Old Testament Law in the loving
others through the Spirit by faith is sometimes called the "law of
liberty" and the "law of Christ."

9.1 When the fulfilling of the Law it is called the "law of
liberty" it means that as Christians we pursue love in liberty from
law-keeping as the ground of our justification or the power of our
sanctification. Instead we pursue it by the "law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:2). We look to the Spirit of Christ
for transformation so that love flows by power from within, not
pressure from without. The law of liberty is the leading of the
Spirit, and "where the Spirit is there is freedom" (2 Corinthians
3:17).

James 1:25

But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of
liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but
an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

James 2:10-12

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point,
he has become guilty of all. 11 For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT
ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT COMMIT MURDER." Now if you do not
commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a
transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be
judged by the law of liberty.

Galatians 5:1

It was for freedom that Christ set us free;
therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke
of slavery.Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you
receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I
testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is
under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from
Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by
law; you have fallen from grace.

2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of
the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into the same image
from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

9.2 When the fulfilling of the Law is called "the law of
Christ," it means that our pursuit of love is guided and enabled by
the life, word, and Spirit of Jesus Christ. The law of Christ is
not a new list of behaviors without but a new Treasure and Master
within. He did give us a "new commandment" ("A new commandment I
give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you,
that you also love one another," John 13:34). But this standard of
love is the life and power of a person who indwells us by his
Spirit. We pursue love as "the law of Christ" by looking to Christ
as our all-sufficient righteousness, our all-satisfying Treasure,
our all-providing Protection and Helper, and our all-wise counselor
and guide.

1 Corinthians 9:21

To those who are without law, [I became] as without law, though
not being without the law of God but [in, not under] the law of
Christ, so that I might win those who are without law.

Galatians 6:2

Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the
law of Christ.

Thesis 10

The Old Testament Law can be understood narrowly as a set
of commandments, or more broadly as the entire teaching of the
Pentateuch, or even all the instruction of God wherever he gives
it.

10.1 In the narrow sense one may think of the law as commanding
perfect obedience which, if we could perform it by faith, would be
our righteousness and our justification. But, because of our sin,
the law does not impart life in this way (Galatians 3:21), but
shuts us up to look away from law-keeping to Christ so that we
might be justified by faith in him.

Galatians 3:21-25

If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then
righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the
Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so that the promise by
faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But
before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being
shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore the
Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be
justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer
under a tutor.

10.2. In the broader sense of the whole Pentateuch or the whole
Old Testament, we may think of the law not merely as making
demands, but as also providing a way for sinners to be justified by
faith apart from works, and to please him by walking in love
(Genesis 15:6; Romans 4:3; Galatians 3:6).

Romans 3:19-22

Now we know that whatever the Law
says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so
that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become
accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will
be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge
of sin. But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has
been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the
Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith
in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.

Thesis 11

When the law is understood in its entirety its aim is that
Jesus Christ get the glory as the one who provides the only ground
for our imputed righteousness through faith (justification), and
the only power for our imparted righteousness (=love which fulfills
the law) through faith (sanctification).

Romans 5:19

For as through the one man's disobedience the many were made
sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be
made righteous.

Romans 10:4

The goal of the law is Christ for righteousness to everyone who
believes. (own translation)

2 Corinthians 5:21

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Philippians 3:8-9

More than that, I count all things to be loss . . .so that I may
gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of
my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in
Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of
faith.

Philippians 1:11

. . . having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which
comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Thesis 12

Therefore, I give a summary, three-part answer to the
question, "How can my imperfect obedience and love fulfill the
perfect law of God?"

12.1 First, my imperfect love is, nevertheless, real
God-dependent, Spirit-enabled, Christ-exalting love that is
based on my justification and not a means to it.
And therefore it is the new direction that the law was aiming at
and what the new covenant promised. In short, love as the fruit of
faith which exalts Christ is what the law was aiming at.

12.2 Second, my imperfect love is the first fruits of a final
perfection that Christ will complete in me at his appearing. Romans
8:4 does not say that the entire fulfillment of the law happens in
us now. But our walk by the Spirit begins now and so does
our fulfillment of the law.

12.3 Finally, my imperfect love is the fruit of my faith in
Jesus who is my justifying perfection before God. In other words,
the only law-keeping I depend on as the ground of my justification
is Jesus' law-keeping. His was perfect. Mine is imperfect. And so I
will never have a whole life of perfection to offer God – not
to all eternity. The acceptability of my life to all eternity will
always depend on the perfection of Jesus offered in my place. My
imperfect love now and my perfect love later will always be the
fruit of faith that looks to Jesus my only perfection. In the end
the law is fulfilled in me imperfectly because it was fulfilled in
him perfectly. And my imperfection is a pointer to his perfection,
and that pointing is the aim of the law.

Conclusion

Wherever you look in Scripture look to Jesus. Let every passage
tell you something of his Father and his Spirit and thus himself.
Make it your aim in all your use of the Scriptures to see and savor
more of Christ. Be on a treasure hunt to satisfy your soul more and
more in him. In this way the Spirit of Christ will be at work to
transform you into his image. The aim of the law will be fulfilled
more and more in your life. And you will magnify Christ in your
life until he comes to complete the work he has begun.

John Piper (@JohnPiper) is founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. For 33 years, he served as pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is author of more than 50 books.

Share the Joy! You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in physical form, in its entirety or in unaltered excerpts, as long as you do not charge a fee. For posting online, please use only unaltered excerpts (not the content in its entirety) and provide a hyperlink to this page. For videos, please embed from the original source. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by Desiring God.